Train users of two minds about ads

Updated 10:32 pm, Thursday, August 23, 2012

STAMFORD -- Metro-North Railroad is reviewing its advertising policies after a new controversial billboard, this one linking Islam to terrorist attacks, was posted at five New Haven Line stations.

The billboards paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative are the latest in an ongoing battle of trackside messages financed by advocacy groups on opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The ads appear at the stations in Greenwich, Cos Cob, Noroton Heights, Darien and South Norwalk and include the slogan "It's not Islamophobia, it's Islamorealism" in red lettering on a black background.

Above the slogan the poster lists the number 19,250, the purported number of terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic extremists since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

Pamela Geller, a blogger who runs the AFDI and paid $10,000 for the ads, attributed that attacks to a list compiled by TheReligionofPeace.com, a website that publishes a list of acts of violence it considers Islamic terrorism, including the killing of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and various other murders.

"I hope people will gain a new understanding of the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat," Geller said.

In an email exchange Geller said her ads, which will run through Sept. 2, were bought to counter a round of platform advertisements critical of Israel that were financed by retired Wall Street broker Henry Clifford of the Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine.

Clifford's ad showed a two-color map of Israel labeled "Palestinian Loss of Land -- 1946 to 2010" that showed the gradual transfer of land from Palestine to Israel through the decades-long conflict and cited a United Nations estimate that 4.7 million Palestinians are refugees.

Clifford, an 83-year-old Essex resident who purchased the ads for $25,000, said he is trying to present the plight of Palestinians, which he feels is often downplayed in the U.S.

"Our posters show historical information without any editorial comment," he said. "I am not currently planning any ads, but I am considering options to definitely do something additional in the future."

Geller said she didn't think her advertisement unfairly linked the larger religion of Islam with those who commit terror attacks. She did say she thinks peaceful Muslims should dissociate themselves from the terrorists who present themselves as the true proponents of Islam.

"The ad simply states a fact," Geller wrote. "There have been well over 19,000 jihad terror attacks since 9/11. Nowhere does the ad say that all Muslims endorse them -- the idea that it does is media fabrication."

In a statement, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent organization of Metro-North, said it is considering a revision of its policy on non-commercial viewpoint advertisements.

"The MTA does not decide whether to allow a proposed advertisement based upon its viewpoint, and the MTA does not endorse the viewpoint in this or any other paid advertisement."

Last month U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer issued an injunction finding the MTA violated Geller and the AFDI's free speech rights by rejecting an earlier ad it thought discriminated against members of the Muslim religion.

In the ruling, Engelmayer found the MTA's policy to prohibit advertisements it considered "demeaning to individuals or a group of individuals," inhibited AFDI's right to express its opinion publicly.

At the Darien rail station, Jonathan Suarez, 31, said he thought the advertisements -- whether pro-Israel or pro-Palestine -- were inappropriate for display along the tracks.

"If it's upsetting people I'm not surprised," Suarez said. "I don't think it's appropriate to be putting up those types of advertisements on controversial subjects."

Simone Harris, of Norwalk, who commutes into the Darien station, said the ad taken out by Geller's group seemed inflammatory, but it and the pro-Palestinian advertisements were just examples of a wider lack of civility in public debate.

At the Greenwich station, the ad has been ripped in half.

"They shouldn't have it up because all it does is add to an environment where everybody is mad and fighting each other," Harris said.

"All it seems to do is insult and upset people, and if people want to have their view respected they should show respect," she added.

Shahzad Khawaja, a Stamford Muslim, said Geller's advertisement was unfair, and that the terms "jihad" and "Sharia" have been misrepresented by the media to be associated with terrorist violence and unenlightened attitudes.

"This is the time to bridge the gap between Islam and the West and not to create tensions," Khawaja said. "Our Stamford Muslim community believes in giving back, and we do projects to serve mankind selflessly."

At the South Norwalk station Monday night, commuter Tom Grehan said he believed the advertisements were protected free speech.

"Whether it is likely to make someone angry, I think it's an appropriate place to express viewpoints," Grehan said.